Alcoholism claims priests too

Manya A. Brachear, Tribune staff reporterCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Six years ago, Rev. Bob Tuzik was a suburban pastor who burned the candle at both ends.

In addition to conducting mass at St. Emily's Parish in Mt. Prospect, he performed weddings, consoled grieving parishioners, counseled pupils at the parish school and served as a liturgical consultant for Chicago's archdiocese.

But Tuzik was not only a workaholic, he was also an alcoholic. Every night, alone in the rectory, he fixed himself a martini. Then another.

It was the hangovers the next morning that finally made it possible for his staff and parishioners to persuade Tuzik to accept a message he now believes he had been turning a deaf ear to all along. He needed help.

"It wasn't just God saying it. It was my staff and my friends," said Tuzik, 57, now the pastor of St. Gall Catholic Church, a largely Hispanic parish in the Gage Park neighborhood.

Tuzik asked the archdiocese for help. The answer was Guest House, a rehabilitation center that operates two treatment facilities: one for religious women in Lake Orion, Mich., and one for priests, deacons and members of male religious orders in Rochester, Minn.

The lay-run treatment center was founded in 1956 by Austin Ripley, a Chicago journalist and recovering alcoholic.

On Friday, Cardinal Francis George will host a $200-a-plate dinner to give back to Guest House, which has helped more than 6,400 priests and religious women with addictions--184 now serving in Illinois--since its inception 48 years ago.

Being honored at the dinner will be Rev. Ed McLaughlin, retired pastor of St. Michael's Parish in Orland Park, and his brother, Rev. Bob McLaughlin, pastor of Mary, Seat of Wisdom Parish in Park Ridge--both longtime members of the Alcohol and Addiction Committee of the archdiocese.

"Sobriety is the goal--sober people who make good decisions and continue to do good work in ministry," Ed McLaughlin said. "We have enough examples of that to give us a lot of hope."

Just how many nuns and priests in the United States have battled drug and alcohol addiction is unknown. So is the actual number of priests, brothers and sisters in Cook and Lake Counties who seek treatment.

But Daniel Kidd, president of Guest House, estimates the percentage in the religious vocations is no different than in the general population. Alcoholism among religious men and women can be triggered by a variety of factors, often coupled with a genetic predisposition.

For Tuzik, whose father had a drinking problem, the trigger was a string of deaths in his parish and family, including his mother. To deaden the pain, he turned to alcohol at the end of each day.

Mixed with medication he was already taking for depression, the drinking had a devastating effect. Every day, Tuzik dragged himself into the parish worn out. Frequently he lost his temper.

"It impacts your ability to function as a priest and proclaim the good news when your personal life is all bad news," he said.

Some priests and nuns may begin drinking as a delayed reaction to trauma or may suffer from the painful realization that even they are not perfect, Kidd said.

"Priests are called to be the father of the people and held in high esteem," he said. "When they realize they are a frail human being, too, it's not difficult to turn to something that will alleviate that pain."

The regular consumption of communion wine can also be a trigger, Kidd said, and recovering clergy can receive permission from the archdiocese to serve non-alcoholic wine. Tuzik does not, saying he never liked the taste of wine to begin with.

He said he has not had a drink for more than six years.

Of those who complete the two-year total treatment program, Guest House boasts at least a 90 percent success rate of priests who return to ministry, Kidd said.

Kidd said bringing together men of one vocation simplifies the treatment process and allows clients to focus on getting well.

"We really treat every priest with dignity and respect," he said. "We try to convey to them the unconditional love and acceptance that God has for them. We're not perfect. Only God is."

He also credited the clients for their ability to draw on their faith and heal.

"Priests from Guest House are such good examples of dying and rising to a new life," Kidd said. "They become sensitive, passionate, compassionate pastors of souls and draw people to them as a result of their recovery from alcoholism. ... Their presence and ministry is enhanced by their recovery."